


Themysciran Chronicles IV 17.1-27

by projectcyborg



Category: Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Amazons - Freeform, Dom/sub, Epic Poetry, F/F, Military, Service, Themyscira (DCU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28441425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/projectcyborg/pseuds/projectcyborg
Summary: The Academy Library on Themyscira houses a vast collection of cultural texts, including those precious few salvaged from the tumultuous era before the Amazons sequestered on the island. Traditional historical accounts take the form of epic poetry that interweaves factual, literary, and erotic dimensions in a distinctive manner. For today's reading, a short representative excerpt.
Relationships: Antiope/Menalippe (Wonder Woman)
Kudos: 5





	Themysciran Chronicles IV 17.1-27

In the wars of liberation,  
Hippolyta, Zeus’s champion, warrior queen, born of   
goddesses, fought the brutal tyranny of Men, back to   
back in battle with Philippus, her lieutenant. Antiope,  
legendary general and favorite of Athena,   
flayed the soldiers’ ranks with arrows, spear, and sword, leading   
the mortal world’s greatest fighters through the bloody,   
righteous gash – and at her side, Menalippe the prophet.   
  
Marching on the next city where their sisters lived enslaved,   
the Amazons camped rough. At dusk, Menalippe waited   
at attention beside a canvas tent (sword sheathed and holding,  
in place of weapons, a clean cloth, a flask of almond oil,  
a vessel of cool spring water) until Antiope   
lifted the threshold and said, “You may serve.”  
  
Broken spears served as pillars for the martial shelter,  
its crown hardly tall enough for Menalippe to stand,   
but the efficient span enclosed the rudiments of a   
general’s craft: boards across two saddle racks for a table   
strewn with military plans, upended crates for chairs and   
folded blankets whispering tonight’s promise of rest.  
Menalippe had already cleaned her armor,   
buffed away the grime and gore until the leather gleamed   
its honorific carmine hue. Antiope’s fingertips   
tested the oiled sheen, following the angled gorget down  
between her breasts. “Suitable,” said Antiope, ever  
terse and direct, but giving orders here with her breath   
kissing her attendant’s throat. “Take it off.”

**Author's Note:**

> A little experiment, not really complete but as much as I've managed to write. Disclaimer: I am not a classicist! Based on my cursory research into [dactylic hexameter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter), I was striving to emulate (without much humility) the free, contemporary approach to verse that Fagles describes in his preface to The Iliad (Penguin Books, 1990): "Working from a loose five- or six-beat line but inclining more to six, I expand at times to seven beats... or contract at times to three to give a point in speech or action sharper stress... I hope it results... in lending Homer the sort of range in rhythm, pace and tone that may make an Iliad engaging to a modern reader" (xi).


End file.
